It is no secret that offensive tackle is a key focus on the recruiting trail right now for the Ohio State football program. The Buckeyes are targeted a handful of elite prospects in the 2012 class and are already scouring the nation for some of the top talent in the 2013 class. One of the top juniors that head coach Urban Meyer has been tracking is Celina (Tex.) product Jake Raulerson. The 6-foot-5, 250-pound prospect recently received an offer from Ohio State.

"I was pretty shocked," explained Raulerson. "I've always been an Urban Meyer fan and when he was at Florida I went to a lot of his camps. I thought it was really cool to be able to talk to him on the phone, I was definitely excited about it."

Raulerson has an interesting family connection to the city of Columbus as his Mother travels to Ohio's capital regularly on business.

"She goes up (to Columbus) every week," Raulerson explained. "I think it makes easier to be able to take a visit up there that's for sure. I haven't really asked her too much about the city but she definitely likes her co-workers, they're a bunch of Ohio State Buckeyes and she definitely likes it up there."

Raulerson's early offer list ranks up there with just about any junior offensive lineman in the nation as the athletic tackle prospect holds over 20 early verbal offers.

"It's extremely exciting," Raulerson said. "I'm having a lot of fun with the process and I'm just looking forward to my senior season."

Raulerson has hit the road in a big way over the last year, going to well over a dozen schools on unofficial visits for junior days, camps, and games. Though he hasn't yet checked out Ohio State, he does hope to do so in the near future.

"(During the off-season) I'm definitely going to try and check out Ohio State and Stanford and some other schools that I haven't visited yet," he said.

With such a huge early offer list, it comes as little surprise that Raulerson is keeping his options fully open at the moment.

"I don't really have any favorites," he said. "I'm just trying to check out each program and see what I like best about them and enjoy the process."

Raulerson added that he will continue to make as many trips as possible over the next year before arriving at a final decision.

"I'm definitely going to take my official visits," Raulerson explained. "I want to check out everything and enjoy it all and soak it in and make sure (it's the right fit)."